Football 2011-2012

[kaosmark2]

Really pleased for ben arfa, coming back from that bad injury aswel.

Is he still on loan? Might be wrong but im sure he was on loan before he got his injury.

[thetime]

Nope. We signed him permanently while he was injured. £2.5mn. Bargain.

[kaosmark2]

yep I would say you are favorites for a champions league place, especially if you can get the pints next 2 or 3 games. Spurs very hit and miss last month or so and pre occupied with the business end of fa cup. Chelsea also preoccupied with the champions league and the fa cup.

big big chance for newcastle.

spurs fixtures blackburn, qpr, bolton, villa, fulham

newcastle fixtures stoke, wigan, chelsea, man city, everton

chelsea fixtures fulham, arsenal, qpr, newcastle, liverpool, blackburn.

On paper spurs have easier fixtures but alot of relegation threatened teams, chelsea have awful fixtures so 5th place is in your reach.

[lost]

Really shocked by Sunderland today, had a really bad feeling about the match as I expected they would be well up for it and if they were a little physical in midfield would dominate with Everton having one eye on the semi next week. My feeling became even worse when I saw we rested 5 including the entire forward line, playing 2 who were released/rejected by championship clubs in the summer and I nearly switched the stream off. Glad I didn't though, Sunderland looked completely disinterested and if Everton had of started Drenthe instead of Mcfadden, it could fo easily have been 6 or 7.

[strummer77]

in fact I suspect St James Park will be full of footballing vultures as soon as the transfer window opens.

[pink_triangle]

Yep. But then they lost all their 'best' players last time and they improved.

[The Nal]

Ben Arfa is a god.

That is all.

[strummer77]

The difference is the players they got rid of last time werent actually very good, the ones that they have now are. You just arent going to pick up another Ben Arfa for 2.5M.

[thetime]

Yep. But then they lost all their 'best' players last time and they improved.

It's how you handle losing your best players that matters. If you sell Torres and have bought Suarez for a lot less you're doing well. If you then spunk the rest of your money on an Andy Carroll... Then you're doing badly.

[strummer77]

Would be suprised if either carrol or suarez is still at liverpool next season.

[The Nal]

Carroll won't I'm sure.

[strummer77]

Would you even get £10m for him now? Anyone willing to pay over that is nuts.

[The Nal]

Somebody would pay £10m. Steve Bruce would if he gets himself a job.

[lharris92]

gwan newcastle, shame about the spuds

[Ed209]

Don't know the ins and outs of that deal but am I right in thinking that Liverpool probably haven't paid £35mil for him anyway. Don't those fees usually mean maximum possible money they would pay given he scores x number of goals/makes y appearances/isn't a total piece of shite?

Saying that, they probably didn't make £50mil on torres either, so swings and roundabouts

[lost]

Don't know the ins and outs of that deal but am I right in thinking that Liverpool probably haven't paid £35mil for him anyway. Don't those fees usually mean maximum possible money they would pay given he scores x number of goals/makes y appearances/isn't a total piece of shite?

Saying that, they probably didn't make £50mil on torres either, so swings and roundabouts

Edited April 9, 2012 by lost

[strummer77]

according to this they paid the full amount, all up front too:

http://www.mirrorfoo...icle829815.html

Edited April 9, 2012 by strummer77

[The Nal]

As a general point I sometimes wonder if the information/gossip about fees sometimes gets put out by clubs and or some of it is exaggerated to save face.

Edited April 9, 2012 by The Nal

[thetime]

From both clubs too. The seller (If he scores 10 goals in the Champions League Final we get another million).

The only genuinely complicated big transfer I can think of was Rooneys and there was further payments after x amount of games, goals, league wins etc for Everton in there.

Worth every penny though of course.

Thing with Carroll that people miss is the wages. Hes on 90k a week right? Huge money. Thats more than Suarez I think? Utter insanity. Other players must be thinking "hang on a fucking second...".

The wage bill is a weekly kick in the nads. I know Pool shipped out Cole and Jovovic due to their high wages. They were both on 90k a week too?!

[strummer77]

From both clubs too. The seller (If he scores 10 goals in the Champions League Final we get another million).

The only genuinely complicated big transfer I can think of was Rooneys and there was further payments after x amount of games, goals, league wins etc for Everton in there.

Worth every penny though of course.

Thing with Carroll that people miss is the wages. Hes on 90k a week right? Huge money. Thats more than Suarez I think? Utter insanity. Other players must be thinking "hang on a fucking second...".

The wage bill is a weekly kick in the nads. I know Pool shipped out Cole and Jovovic due to their high wages. They were both on 90k a week too?!

[eFestivals]

Its not just the stats, its his overall control of the game, the pace he sets the game at etc. He was the best player on the pitch (again) yesterday by a mile.

But I agree yeah. He seems to be given an awful lot of space at times. I think it may be because he rarely loses the ball. If a team marks him tight, that player can be passed by very quickly with Scholes just popping a pass off and collecting it round the other side of him.

"the pace he sets the game at" is a bit of a joke when nothing is done by the opposition to try and stop him setting the pace.

This isn't me having a pop at Scholes, it's having a pop at the opposition who give him all that space - it's not the sort of space any team should give a shit player in that area of the pitch, and yet a great player like scholes is being given acres at times. The games that I remember it happening was Sunday and against Man City, tho there's probably been others too.

And while I agree that getting close can be foolish at times, it's far more foolish to do nothing and give a player all the time and space he wants to pick his pass - and anyway, the times I'm thinking of when he's been given that space wouldn't really allow for a return pass to him, because he'd have run into the wall of defenders that were on the edge of the box (which he might get past on occasions but not too many).

----

Just on a different note, I can't help but laugh at fergie for considering berba not fast enough for the faster speed he says he wants Utd to play at now, while welcoming back into the team an oldie that was never fast and is now much slower and whose return has slowed the team back below any increased speed they might have gained at the start of the season.

It says to me that fergie stands a more than decent chance of failing to keep up his consistent winning when giggs and scholes hang up their boots.It'll be interesting to see how Utd manage without them.

--------------

And can I just say ..... Spurs.

[eFestivals]

Ben Arfa is a god.

That is all.

He might be as god, but I'm bored already with the comments about yesterday's goal. Yes, he ran a long way with the ball, but it was not a great goal.

[eFestivals]

Carroll won't I'm sure.

I wouldn't be so sure. No one is going to want to pay his wages.

[The Nal]

Just on a different note, I can't help but laugh at fergie for considering berba not fast enough for the faster speed he says he wants Utd to play at now, while welcoming back into the team an oldie that was never fast and is now much slower and whose return has slowed the team back below any increased speed they might have gained at the start of the season.

[eFestivals]

Scholes doesn't have to get all the way into the box though, Berba does.

that's not really any part of it. Fergie's plan to ramp up Utd so they can (he hopes) beat Barca is by Utd playing a far faster game all around the pitch.

Reverting back to using Scholes means the abandoning of that plan - but not the plan that berba isn't part of that plan.

Oh unless Utd get Sneijder/Modric etc they will struggle badly after Giggs and Scholes are gone. But that wont be until May 2013 by the look of it.

Hmmm, I'm starting to think that Fergie's success might be firmly fixed to Scholes and (to a lesser extent) Giggs - and without them, no matter who they might get in, the success will fade away.

I realise that's a pretty far-out idea because no one should be irreplaceable, but it's certainly true that Utd are a different team since Scholes came back. It'll be interesting to see how they get on without him when he does finally stop playing (about 2036 I reckon ).

Lovely turn in fairness and the finish was nice. Shite defending though yeah.

Oh, it defo wasn't a bad goal and it was well taken - I've no qualms about that.

But goal of the season? Nah, not by a long long way.